The Reunion
by Squirrel Stone
Summary: Dani's got a new boyfriend, and he's pretty incredible. However, once the family finds out, things get a bit messy. Post-PP.
1. Chapter 1

I own nothing but the plot. Rated T for implications, not-quite sexual content but getting close, and some colorful language on occasion.

* * *

Danielle "Dani" Fenton leaped to her feet after being knocked down, setting herself in a perfect defensive position. She was plenty used to being hit with enough force to land her on her butt, and she was getting faster and faster at getting back up. She hardly even felt the ground anymore- just a sensation that she was there and had to get up. Actually, she should probably go to a doctor about her dulled nerve endings.

Briefly lost in her thoughts, Dani soon found her back pressed against a young man's chest, a blade at her throat. A little shudder escaped her, her knees going weak. She swallowed hard, ignoring that the blade pressed harder at her throat, not quite drawing blood.

"You got distracted again," Clockwork whispered in her ear, and the teen licked her lips as she tried to calm her breathing. Her body, slender and strong from all her training pressed just a little bit more into her mentor's strong, defined chest. While it was extremely humbling to be defeated by Clockwork when he was in elderly or child form, it felt deviously hot when his body was just a few years older than hers.

The hand holding her body to his slowly wandered down to her hips, and she let out a little whimper as one of her arms carefully curled around the back of his neck, gently pulling his lips to her neck.

Clockwork only chuckled as he did as she silently requested, his lips making contact with he middle of her neck. One of the few things Clockwork would never understand was just what Danielle loved about him kissing her neck. Every time he did, she would just crumble into him. It didn't matter what was going on or where they were. He'd tested the kiss multiple times- while she was intent on studying, while she was in a public place and he was invisible (that one was quite amusing, as she had no idea what was going on)- heck, he'd even done it to her when he was in his form as a fifty-year-old, and still she melted into his arms. Of course, he often used that to his advantage, like when she was cross with him, but she had her little tricks, too.

The sound of metal clattering on the floor escaped his ears as his newly freed hand moved up to brush Dani's hair out of his way. Slowly, his kisses travelled down until he reached the base of her neck, sucking the spot for a moment before biting it, Dani letting out a small cry of ecstasy in response.

Dani spun around the second he let her, the girl's hands instantly wandering to his black training shirt as she pressed her lips to his. The garment came off in less than a second, and she instantly found herself being pushed roughly into a wall, Clockwork's strong body bracing her. The noirette's legs wrapped around the time master's hips as he began kissing her neck again, this time in a much more urgent manner.

"Hey, guys, I got the-" Tucker froze the second he walked into the room, his eyes going wide as dinner plates.

The intimate couple broke away from each other in an instant, both looking sheepish and trying to avoid Tucker's stare which, somehow, seemed impossible to evade.

The techno geek's mouth opened and closed, looking rather like a fish for a moment before he finally found his voice. "So... you two... all this time," he managed to spit out. "I-I didn't realize that... Wow."

"It's not what it looks like-"

"Really?" Tucker asked in fake astonishment. "So you weren't about to have sex with a ghost while your two best friends and brother were in the kitchen?"

Dani winced. "Okay, this is exactly what it looks like," she confessed. "It's been going on since I was created. We had a connection, and when I went to the Zone to find out what it is, I found Clockwork, and we've been seeing each other ever since. Although the uh, sex only started about a month or two ago."

Tucker's eyebrows slowly rose until Dani thought they were going to jump right off his head and waltz off. "Your parents are gonna kill you."

* * *

"You actually told them?" Dani hissed, her eyes sharpening to a bright green color for a moment. "Are you out of your mind?"

Tucker shook his head. "You know, as your only guy friend aside from Danny, it's my responsibility to make sure you and Sam only date good people," he declared. "Clockwork is a ghost, and an ancient one at that. For Pete's sake, he was around during Pariah Dark's initial reign!"

"That doesn't matter," Dani insisted. "He's sweet and-"

"We will be the judge of that," Maddie cut in. "You're to bring your little boyfriend to the family reunion so we can get to know him better."

"And find out if we need to dissect him molecule by molecule!" Jack added in, obviously hoping to do so. Not only was that Clockwork creep a ghost, but he was dating his youngest daughter. Someone was going to pay.

"For once, I agree," Danny declared, his eyes refusing to turn blue since they left Clockwork's lair, instead remaining a neon green color. "I swear, when I get my hands on him-"

Danielle moaned in defeat and stood, walking to her room in typical grumpy-teenager fashion. Sam and Tucker could find their own way home; she was too angry to talk to anyone.

With the traitors leaving her mind, Dani opened her bedroom door to see red rose petals floating around the room. Danielle closed the door, smiling and giggling as she walked to the center of the room, wondering just how Clockwork had pulled it off.

"Sorry about the trouble, Songbird," a voice from behind her declared, and Dani soon found herself being embraced by Clockwork again, his hands on her hips and his lips on her neck.

No sooner than a cry of delight escape Dani did Jack and Maddie burst through the door.

"And just what is going on here?" Danny demanded.

A defeated whimper escaped the teen, and she whispered to herself, "You've gotta be kidding me."

* * *

Shall I go on? I've got so many ideas in my head and so many fics going on, and they're all coming out at once!


	2. Chapter 2

Fun fact! The Hotel del Coronado is a real place! It's really classic meets beach house, and it's got places to shop and eat within its walls that you'd actually want to go to instead of just a gift shop.

Guest: Alrighty, then.

tolazytologin: Thanks! You'll get to see plenty more of that before this is over.

Guest #2: Oh, no, they were in Clockwork's tower, hence the linebreak when they switch to FentonWorks. Besides, the ghost detectors would be going off all the time with Dani and Danny living there. XD

UltraRecycloVegetarian: Oh indeed, and more hilarity and Dani and Clockwork getting caught in compromising situations to come!

LandofMidnightRain: Yes, Dani will be mortified at many points in this story. After all, the young adults are meant to be mortified at family reunions. As for Clockwork, well we already know that he's quite the charmer. ;)

* * *

Now that her secret was out, Danielle had no problem declaring that she wanted to prolong her training sessions with Clockwork. Of course, that declaration was usually followed by Danny picking up his little sister and leaving Clockwork's tower immediately.

In addition, Danny noticed that Clockwork rarely changed ages anymore, instead staying around his early twenties, no doubt in an effort to appear like a slightly more normal couple with Danielle. The duo had no problem showing affection towards each other now, but if Clockwork ever crossed the line, Danny was there to intervene.

Slowly but surely, the family reunion rolled around, and it was time for Maddie and Jack to meet Clockwork. The hotel being used to hold the event was absolutely packed, Dani sharing a room with Jazz, so the parents felt no need to worry about Dani and Clockwork getting up to anything.

"So are you excited about the Hotel del Coronado?" Danny asked as he and Danielle sat on a plane, the latter holding on to the arm rests for dear life.

Dani nodded, but her eyes remained full of fear. "I'd be more excited if we were landing soon," she confessed.

Danny raised an eyebrow. "You do know this fear is completely irrational, right?" he asked her. "You can fly."

"Yeah," Dani squeaked, though her brother's words of encouragement did nothing to help her. As the plane hit a batch of turbulence, Danielle screamed a bit, one hand reaching out to grab Danny's arm.

The elder halfa snorted, trying and failing to hide his amusement. Then, of course, it was time for teasing. "I bet you'd be okay if Clockwork was here," he sang with a little laugh, earning only a punch to the arm from Dani in return.

"Shut up, jerk," she ordered, a sour look on her face. "You're just jealous because you don't get any from Sam."

It was true. Sam said that as long as Danny was too embarrassed to buy condoms, nothing would happen. Unfortunately, being the town's hero made embarrassing situations even more mortifying. "Yeah, well as long as I'm around, you won't be getting any from Clockwork either. Why are you two even sleeping together in the first place? You're fifteen, that's way too young!"

"Calm down," Dani told her brother. "You're making a scene. And for the record, Clockwork and I have a connection. We love each other." A little smile came to Danielle's mouth as she thought about her boyfriend. "He's sweet and clever and everything I could ever want. If you have too big of a problem with that... Clockwork offered for me to move in with him."

Danny's eyes widened in shock, and he briefly considered his options. A, he could let Dani and Clockwork do whatever they wanted (no way), B, he could push Dani away so much that she moved out (no way), or C, he could keep an eye on the couple and just make sure things didn't get out of hand. Yeah, that one sounded best. "Don't, there's no need," Danny assured her. "Just... I don't want you to get hurt."

"I'll be fine," Dani assured the elder Fenton. "He loves me, and I love him; it's as simple as that."

_People fall out of love,_ Danny thought, though he dared not say it.

* * *

It seemed that the entire Fenton family was in we over the Hotel del Coronado. The lobby looked like something taken right out of the 20s, all classy and glittery. Danny, Jazz, and Dani wandered over to the sitting area as their parents got checked in, and much to their surprise, a tall man with a brunette buzz cut wandered over and sat next to Danielle, his arm instantly wrapping around her shoulders.

Dani looked at the strange man out of the corner of her eye, too flabbergasted to do anything, but Danny was immediately on the offense, picking the man up and throwing him a few feet away. "Stay the hell away from my sister!" Danny ordered, eyes sparking green.

The man pulled himself back up to his feet, and he laughed ever-so-slightly. "Calm down," he told the halfa. "If you wanted to get violent about me and your sister, you should have done it when you first found out last week."

It took Danielle a moment, but realization slowly came to her face. "Clockwork?" she checked, and the man smiled his toothy, devil-may-care smile. Danielle's own smile graced her face, and she ran up to him, her arms going around his neck as their lips met. The ghost's hands encircled her waist, pulling her closer as their kiss deepened.

Jazz cleared her throat loudly, and the couple jumped away from each other. "So this is the boyfriend?" the redhead asked, looking the ghost with a human appearance up and down. "He's cute."

"He's _dead_," Danny corrected. "Clockwork, what are you doing?"

Clockwork smirked. "I have a few tricks up my sleeve, including one to make myself look like I did before I died," he explained. He rubbed a hand on his head. "Though I must say, this was not the military hairstyle in my day."

"You were in the army?" Danielle asked, her head cocking to the side a bit.

The man shook his head. "No, though I knew many who were military," he told his girlfriend, his arm wrapping around her waist once more. "So, enough talk about the boring fifth century; let's get checked in."

"Fifth century, huh? I finally get a number," Danielle smirked as she and Clockwork walked away, Danny scowling at them as they did.

Jazz raised an eyebrow and closed her book. "I know she's our little sister and all, but Danny, you need to calm down about Danielle. She's in love. Let her be happy." Before she could get back to her reading, Danny piped up.

"So what if she's in love; he's going to hurt her!"

"Danny," Jazz cut in harshly, "Clockwork is your mentor and Danielle's boyfriend. The three of you can't escape each other, so you might as well get used to those two dating each other. Now, I know it's upsetting for your world to face another change, but you've dealt with worse. Over the past three years, you've been turned into a halfa, taken down the most powerful ghost in the world almost single-handedly, thereby proving yourself as one of the most powerful, you've revealed your powers to the world, gotten a girlfriend, had your older sister move out for college, and get a little sister. I know that's a lot of changes in your life, but Clockwork and Danielle is the one that affects you _least_."

The dark-haired teen pursed his lips and sulked in his chair. "It doesn't matter, Jazz. Dani is my _sister_. You know I'd do the same for you if you got a boyfriend."_  
_

Jazz sighed, rolling her eyes. "Alright, you wanna know what you're gonna do?" she asked rhetorically. "You are going to go over to Clockwork, apologize, sit next to Danielle at dinner with her boyfriend on her other side, and treat them to dessert at that fancy chocolate place downstairs. Do you understand."

Danny groaned and got to his feet. "Fine," he moaned, clomping off towards the couple.

* * *

Danielle practically hung off of Clockwork from the second they checked in. Jack and Maddie had invited the ghost and kids to spend some time in their suite. The living room area had just enough seating for the six of them, Danielle sitting sideways and letting her legs rest in her boyfriend's lap.

"So, Clockwork, what is it exactly that you do?" Maddie asked, trying to keep the conversation basic at first.

The ghost put down his water glass and answered, "I watch over the time stream and make sure everything is going on as it's supposed to now, but when I was alive, I was a slave." Clockwork glanced over to Danielle, knowing she was upset by the concept of slavery. After all, that's basically what she had been to Vlad before Danny rescued her. "I guess that's part of why Songbird and I get each other," he said, gently rubbing a hand up and down Danielle's legs to soothe her.

Danny gritted his teeth, trying his hardest not to snap at Clockwork for so much as _touching_ his baby sister. "And just what have the two of you been doing since you met? How long have you been dating?" he demanded, malice filling his voice.

"Well, we've spent most of our time together in my lair, seeing as the majority of ghosts think I'm a myth. We just talk and eat dinner and watch movies," Clockwork explained. "And I guess we've been dating for..." He looked to Dani for a double check, no words exchanged, just a silent understanding. "About two and a half years, ever since we first met."

Jack and Maddie nodded, both with smiles on their faces. Of course, they didn't know just how intimate their relationship was. "So what do _you_ like about Danielle?" Jack asked. The article he'd read online said to ask that.

Clockwork grinned, and looked at Danielle, one hand going to cup her cheek. "She's sweet," he declared simply. "She would never walk past someone without smiling at them, never abandon someone who's hurt." The ghost brushed a strand of hair from his girlfriend's face, who was only able to grin, brimming with joy. "Her eyes, blue like sapphires, and in the sunlight, they turn a _little_ bit green, showing off that inner strength. Her smile is contagious. I don't know anyone who could meet her and not smile back. The way she can eat a whole pizza on her own without a problem. How she lies upside-down on the couch when she reads. All the little things that make Danielle her."

There were so many more ways Clockwork could have gone on. The way she wrinkled her nose and giggled when he tickled her, the way she would fall apart the second he kissed her neck, the way she would wrap one of her legs around his when they were in bed, the way she would throw her head back and moan whenever they made love... Of course, those things that made him love her got less appropriate as he went down the list, so he stopped himself before he got himself dissected.

Glancing at Danny for a millisecond, Clockwork held back a smile. The halfa's eyes were no longer filled with rage and hate, instead understanding taking their place. It looked like the idea of his baby sister dating the master of time was warming up on Danny.

"So what about family?" Jazz asked, pulling Clockwork out of his reverie. "Anyone from before you died?"

Clockwork only shook his head. "I was an orphan," he stated simply, having come to terms with the fact long ago.


	3. Chapter 3

SuperGeorgia: Thanks so much! I'm glad you like it!

Beautifullove521: I'm on it!

Guest: Fear not; I already have the next chapter written.

Now, someone recently PM'd me regarding the themes in this story. Since it was sent via PM, I'm assuming this person would like to remain anonymous, so I will not reveal their penname. Yes, my story is on the borderline of T and M. I've already acknowledged this, but besides kissing (and at one point Clockwork's shirt being removed), there has been no graphic material. I also understand the issue of someone as young as Danielle (age 15 in this) being in an intimate relationship is unsettling for some; however, this is appropriate according to the fictionratings guidelines. The guidelines are rather vague, and they say nothing about age. In addition, it isn't uncommon for shows now to openly display sexuality of teenagers. Despite my hatred of the show, _The Secret Life of the American Teenager_ has a fifteen-year-old character pregnant at the start of her sophomore year and later has another character wearing a bra and a man's shirt tied up in a certain way to reveal her breasts and midriff, just to name a couple of indiscretions. Another example, _Skins_, shows teenagers as young as fifteen smoking and drinking. While sex is generally safe as long as you use the proper protection, smoking and drinking yields both immediate and lasting effects on the mind, especially if it is a teenager taking these drugs. Both of these shows have a target audience of only age 13 and up. _The Secret Life_ had a warning before episodes about mature content, but _Skins_ was rated PG by the British Columbia Corporation. I'm sorry to rag on you for all this, but it isn't me who's sending out this message about teenagers and sex- it's society as a whole. In addition, this story has had only about 150 hits so far, and I highly doubt that it's 150 different people, as many come back and reread stories if they feel like it, and a new count is added when someone reads the next chapter, adding themselves in once more._ The Secret Life of the American Teenager_'s mid-season premier, on the other hand, had people on over three million televisions watching, many of which had more than one person sitting in front of them. In short, I won't be changing the rating on this fic, as society has adapted to accept teenagers having sex as the norm. That, and it's much more likely that a teenager will take drugs or get pregnant at band camp than they would be to find a time-controlling ghost to have sex with.

Once again, I'm sorry to make such a big deal out of this, but I want my readers to know my decision about the rating issue and my reasons behind it. I'm not trying to call you out or anything, PMer, as your argument is valid, and if I was writing this ten or even five years ago, I might have decided differently, but in the present day, the majority of society has deemed this acceptable.

* * *

Danielle was all but frozen as family members she didn't know cooed over her and bombarded her with questions. While most of the family knew of her, none had actually met her. The dinner was set up with many round tables, each with eight chairs. At Danielle's table, there was herself, Clockwork, Danny, Jazz, Jack, Maddie, and Maddie's parents. The food had all already been eaten, and now most people were wandering from table to table, chatting it up with each other. Of course, nearly everyone was asking Danny and Danielle about their superhero-ing and just where Danielle came from.

"Oh, I'm a clone," Danielle blurted out simply before she took a sip of her water. The concept had become so normal for her that she forgot that others- like Maddie's parents- weren't exactly used to it.

Vivan Giles, Maddie's mother, blinked. "I-I'm sorry, dear, what did you say?" she asked, absolutely astounded. "You can't be a clone; that's impossible."

Dani shrugged. "Well, I didn't really have a choice in how plausible I was when I was created," she explained. "Vlad was the first known person to manage it, so I guess before me, it was impossible. Though there was the whole sheep thing a while back..."

The couple blinked at the girl, not exactly understanding her logic. "Your daughter hunts ghosts," Dani reminded them. "Is it really that hard to believe in clones?"

"Well, you see, dear, it's against the law to clone people," Marshall Giles declared. "After the second world war, it was decided it was too dangerous for the concept of a person being copied for fear it would promote the concept of a perfect human being and the holocaust would start all over again."

Both Clockwork and Dani nodded, the latter getting a little flustered for obvious reasons. Knowing what was to come if Danielle didn't calm down, Clockwork spoke up. "Sir, Dani understands that completely, but some people do break the law regardless. I, for one, am glad that Vlad did the wrong thing because without that, Danielle wouldn't exist."

Though surprised by Clockwork's speaking out against his 'elders,' Vivan kept a straight face and nodded slowly. "I suppose you're right," she conceeded. "So how long have you two been seeing each other?"

* * *

That night, Danielle found herself creeping out of bed, tip toeing to the desk where she had previously placed a map of the hotel. Though Clockwork managed to get a nearby room, Dani had a hard time remembering exactly where it was, and it sure would be awkward to pop into someone else's room.

Sure that she had the room location right, Dani turned around, only to jump a bit upon seeing a wide-awake Jazz looking at her. "I can explai-"

"Not judging," Jazz assured her little sister. "Just make sure you're back before Mom and Dad come to wake us up. Have fun."

Though the last comment sounded a bit snarky, Danielle headed out happily with her sister's blessing.

* * *

Sorry this chapter has been a bit filler-ish, but I wanted to get that note out there. Don't worry, the action will pick up soon.


	4. Chapter 4

Note: I do not approve of nor condone underage sex. Also, sorry this took so long. Life got in the way.

* * *

Pillow Talk Interlude

"How did you die?" Danielle asked, absentmindedly drawing circles on Clockwork's chest with her finger. She bit her lip, anxiously waiting for a reaction. She'd only asked that question once before, and Clockwork had gotten real quiet. Scary quiet. He'd asked her to leave for a day or two, and when she finally came back, his lair was all but destroyed. Maybe this time would be different; however, after such a lengthy silence already, she didn't expect a change.

Clockwork's voice surprised her, nearly made her jump. "I was twenty-three," he began. "My master couldn't afford to feed me anymore, so he sold me to a young witch named Morgan. She kept me around for a while, had me go and fetch supplies for her potions, and so on and so forth.

"One day when I was twenty-five, she said she needed me to drink some sort of potion or some such nonsense so I would be safe to be near her while she performed her next spell. I did as she told me, and before I knew it, I felt like I was being torn apart from the inside out. The potion pulled me into two pieces: one good, and one evil. My evil half went on a rampage, killing the witch and anyone else he deemed fit until the armies finally killed both him and me for fear that I would end up like him somehow.

"But his reign didn't end there. The Observants managed to see my potential, and my dark self decided to rule the Ghost Zone with an iron fist. It took some of the most powerful ghosts known and myself to lock him away, but not before he managed to leave the Zone in the scattered disrepair it is today, curse me to never move on, and kill my sister."

Danielle blinked. "You have a sister?" she asked. "You told my parents you were-" Clockwork's shrug told the halfa all she needed to know.

"Do you at least get to dream?" she asked. She'd spent enough nights with Clockwork to know he slept, but dreaming was an entirely different animal.

"Of course," Clockwork nodded. "Everyone does."

Snuggling up closer to him, Dani asked, "What about?"

Clockwork didn't answer, instead rolling over on top of Danielle, leaning down to kiss her. Both delighted in the other's actions and reactions. When Danielle wrapped a leg around his waist, he growled and pulled her closer to him. Finally, Clockwork leaned down and whispered in her ear...

"You."


End file.
